A substrate processing method including: a) providing a substrate having a first region on a surface; b) supplying a precursor to the surface of the substrate, the precursor including at least both a halogen and carbon and being configured to form a first chemical bond in the first region; and c) exposing the surface of the substrate to a plasma of an inert gas.

The disclosed techniques relate to methods and apparatus for etching a substrate. A plate assembly divides a reaction chamber into a lower and upper sub-chamber. The plate assembly includes an upper and lower plate having apertures therethrough. When the apertures in the upper and lower plates are aligned, ions and neutral species may travel through the plate assembly into the lower sub-chamber. When the apertures are not aligned, ions are prevented from passing through the assembly while neutral species are much less affected. Thus, the ratio of ion flux:neutral flux may be tuned by controlling the amount of area over which the apertures are aligned. In certain embodiments, one plate of the plate assembly is implemented as a series of concentric, independently movable injection control rings. Further, in some embodiments, the upper sub-chamber is implemented as a series of concentric plasma zones separated by walls of insulating material.

A system and method for a waferless cleaning method for a capacitive coupled plasma system. The method includes forming a protective layer on a top surface of an electrostatic chuck, volatilizing etch byproducts deposited on one or more inner surfaces of the plasma process chamber, removing volatilized etch byproducts from the plasma process chamber and removing the protective layer from the top surface of the electrostatic chuck. A capacitive coupled plasma system including a waferless cleaning recipe is also described.

For a first period of time, a higher radiofrequency power is applied to generate a plasma in exposure to a substrate, while applying low bias voltage at the substrate level. For a second period of time, a lower radiofrequency power is applied to generate the plasma, while applying high bias voltage at the substrate level. The first and second periods of time are repeated in an alternating and successive manner for an overall period of time necessary to produce a desired effect on the substrate. In some embodiments, the first period of time is shorter than the second period of time such that on a time-averaged basis the plasma has a greater ion density than radical density. In some embodiments, the first period of time is greater than the second period of time such that on a time-averaged basis the plasma has a lower ion density than radical density.

Provided are apparatuses and methods for performing deposition and etch processes in an integrated tool. An apparatus may include a plasma processing chamber that is a capacitively-coupled plasma reactor, and the plasma processing chamber can include a showerhead that includes a top electrode and a pedestal that includes a bottom electrode. The apparatus may be configured with an RF hardware configuration so that an RF generator may power the top electrode in a deposition mode and power the bottom electrode in an etch mode. In some implementations, the apparatus can include one or more switches so that at least an HFRF generator is electrically connected to the showerhead in a deposition mode, and the HFRF generator and an LFRF generator is electrically connected to the pedestal and the showerhead is grounded in the etch mode.

A light interference system is provided. The light interference system includes a light source configured to generate a measurement light; a fiber configured to propagate therethrough the measurement light; and a measurement device. The fiber includes a single-mode fiber, a multimode fiber and a connector connecting the single-mode fiber and the multimode fiber. A tip end of the fiber is formed of the multimode fiber, and an end surface of the tip end of the fiber is configured to emit the measurement light to a measurement target object and receive a reflection light from the measurement target object. The measurement device is configured to measure physical property of the measurement target object based on the reflection light.

A method includes etching a first region by plasma etching such that an upper surface of the first region is provided at a deeper position within a substrate than a second region; forming a deposit containing carbon on the substrate by forming plasma of a hydrocarbon gas inside a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus; and further etching the first region by plasma etching. In the forming of the plasma of the hydrocarbon gas, magnetic field distribution in which a horizontal component on an edge side of the substrate is larger than a horizontal component on a center of the substrate is formed by an electromagnet.

A substrate processing device includes a housing connected to ground, a cathode stage that supports a substrate, an anode unit, and a gas feeding unit that feeds gas toward the first plate. The cathode stage is applied with voltage for generating plasma. The anode unit includes a first plate including first through holes and a second plate including second through holes that are larger than the first through holes. The second plate is located between the first plate and the cathode stage. The first plate produces a flow of the gas through the first through holes. The gas that has passed through the first through holes flows through the second through holes into an area between the second plate and the cathode stage. A distance between the first plate and the second plate is 10 mm or greater and 50 mm or less.

An etching method includes: (a) providing a substrate including a silicon-containing film on a substrate support; (b) adjusting a temperature of the substrate support to −20° C. or lower; (c) supplying a processing gas including a nitrogen-containing gas, into the chamber; (d) etching the silicon-containing film by using plasma generated from the processing gas. A recess is formed by etching the silicon-containing film, and a by-product containing silicon and nitrogen adheres to a side wall of the recess. The etching method further includes (e) setting at least one etching parameter of the temperature of the substrate support and the flow rate of the nitrogen-containing gas included in the processing gas, to adjust the width of the bottom of the recess according to an adhesion amount of the by-product, before (b).

A plasma processing, apparatus of an embodiment includes a chamber, an introducing part, a first power source, a holder, an electrode, and a second power source. The introducing pat introduces gas into the chamber. The first power source outputs a first voltage for generating ions from the gas. The holder holds a substrate. The electrode is opposite to the ions across the substrate, and has a surface not parallel to the substrate. The second power source applies a second voltage to the electrode. The second voltage has a frequency lower than the frequency of the first voltage and Introduces die ions to the substrate.